get my wings to work but they were just too wet. My wings had never liked water, it made them too heavy to fly with.
I cursed and looked back to the spirits. “It’s not working. Do you know where land is?”
They looked to each other, then shook their heads.
But then the young boy’s eyes widened. “But there’s a ship!”
The girl gasped. “YES! We’ll take you, hold on!”
Before I could argue or ask questions, they dragged me through the water. They moved with alarming speed, faster than I could keep track of but water splashed around me. With no land around, I couldn’t even tell how far or fast we were going, but my hair flew behind me like a cape and my wings fluttered. My eyelashes swayed. We moved in and out of patches of sunlight and cloud cover. The salt coming off the ocean stung my eyes, so I closed them and shielded my face.
Finally, we stopped moving.
The boy tugged on my left hand, then whispered, “we’re here, miss.”
I opened my eyes and choked on a gasp.
It was a massive ship made of dark wood with red accents and black sails. It had black flags with skulls on them. Some kind of lantern hung off the back and the sides had openings for huge cannons. A cold chill slid down my spine as we floated along the side.
I knew what this was.
It was a pirate ship.
“Queen Anne’s Revenge, miss,” the girl whispered just loud enough for me to hear.
I know that name. Why do I know that name?
“They’re coming, miss!” The girl hissed.
I cursed and looked up just as a few of the ship’s inhabitants peered over the side and spotted me. One of the men’s eyes widened. He shouted then turned back to the ship and shouted more while pointing down at me.
A thick brown rope shot over the side of the ship and then dropped down beside me in the water. I reached out and wrapped my arm around it—
“Goodbye, miss!”
“Good luck!”
I turned back to them and found their transparent eyes watching me. I had no idea what I was doing, I’d never been initiated into The Coven nor had I any specific training for my gift – I hadn’t ever even asked Paulina. But I remembered from my youth the Death Card in Salem could send lost souls to peace.
I bit my lip then reached down. “Take my hand! Now, hurry!”
They dove for my hand without hesitation and I sank a bit in the water, but the rope held me up.
I summoned my magic, the one I wasn’t used to yet. The one that felt like a crisp cool autumn breeze. I pulled that into my heart, then pushed it down to my hand. Soft golden light shimmered through my arm and then into theirs. Their bodies lit up.
“Be at peace,” I whispered. “You’re free.”
They gasped. Their eyes widened and little smirks pulled at their lips…and then they were gone.
“PULL!”
The rope tightened on my arm and then I shot straight up. I gasped and pulled my wings in and the world passed by me in a blur. One second I was floating in the ocean, the next my bare feet hit the wooden deck of the ship. I collapsed to my knees and coughed.
“What ‘ave we ‘ere?” A deep gravelly voiced purred in my ear. A large hand gripped the back of my neck then hoisted me up to my feet. The man in front of me had large blood shot eyes and a grimy dirty face. His clothes were so tattered, torn, and covered in dirt I couldn’t tell what he was even wearing. He looked me up and down, then grinned and let out a sick chuckle that made my stomach turn. “You a purrrrty little thing.”
The hand gripping my neck dragged me backwards until my back slammed into someone’s chest. A disgusting stench I couldn’t even begin to describe hit my nose and I gagged. Those fingers dug into my throat. I froze. I had to play this right if I wanted to survive. Pirates weren’t the kind of men you gambled with. I needed strategy, a plan because the swords strapped to their bodies told me I was heavily outnumbered.
Lips pressed into my jaw. A man purred in my ear. “Mmmm she smells good.”
“Bet she tastes good, too,” the first man growled and his eyes flashed down to my chest.
“Ay, where’d she come from?” Someone else shouted from beside me.